9.  The applicant was born in 1949 and is currently detained in Maastricht.
10.  The applicant was detained on remand (voorlopige hechtenis) on 11 September 1995. The criminal proceedings against him, in which he stood accused of a number of offences including murder, manslaughter/grievous bodily harm, rape and narcotics offences, came to an end on 26 March 2002, when the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) confirmed the judgment of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal (gerechtshof) of 6 March 2001 in which the applicant had been sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment. In imposing that sentence, the Court of Appeal had taken into account the fact that the applicant had spent much of his pre-trial detention in maximum security. In addition, the Court of Appeal had imposed a TBS order (placement at the disposal of the Government – terbeschikkingstelling) with confinement in a secure institution (met bevel tot verpleging van overheidswege).
11.  The applicant was initially detained in ordinary remand institutions (huizen van bewaring). In a letter dated 7 October 1997 to the governor of the remand institution where the applicant was detained at that time, the National Public Prosecutor stated:
“... I wish to inform you that a seriously increased safety risk exists in relation to [the applicant]. The Detainee Intelligence Information Service [Gedetineerde Recherche Informatie Punt – “GRIP”] has obtained information – which has been examined by myself and which I have found to be sufficiently relevant, reliable and concrete but which should be protected for reasons of security – to the effect that [the applicant] is intending to escape from detention and to that purpose is managing to make contacts outside the penitentiary.
An escape or breakout is liable to be accompanied by assistance from the outside and violence directed at others.
I would further draw your attention to the fact that it also appears from the aforementioned information that [the applicant] has approached persons, or has had them approached on his behalf, in a threatening and intimidating manner.
I advise you to take the appropriate measures to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of the [applicant’s] detention as well as appropriate measures to prevent any damage, and in particular damage to persons, occurring outside the penitentiary.”
12.  On 14 October 1997 the governor of the remand institution where the applicant was detained proposed to the special selection board of the maximum-security institution (Extra Beveiligde Inrichting – “EBI”) that the applicant be placed in the EBI which is part of the Nieuw Vosseveld Penitentiary Complex in Vught. At a meeting of the selection board on 24 October 1997 the applicant was selected for placement. He was transferred to the EBI on 29 October 1997.
13.  In a letter of 4 November 1997 the Minister of Justice confirmed the applicant’s placement and informed him of the reasons which had led to that decision having been taken. Reference was made to the letter (referred to as the “official report” (ambtsbericht)) of 7 October 1997. In respect of the threats and intimidation, the Minister of Justice wrote that these had not only been brought to bear on fellow inmates but also on persons outside the remand institution. The applicant was further informed that his escape would pose an unacceptable risk to society. The Minister had also decided that the so-called “A regime” should apply to the applicant in view of the latter’s threat that he would commit suicide if placed in the EBI.
14.  In January and March 1998 the applicant lodged two requests for a transfer to an ordinary remand institution with the ‘s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal. The first request was declared inadmissible and the second was rejected. The Court of Appeal based its second decision on the information obtained by GRIP, which had been further elucidated to the court, in confidence, by the Procurator-General at a hearing on 26 March 1998. Neither the applicant nor his counsel were allowed to hear what the Procurator-General had told the Court of Appeal. After the applicant and counsel had once again been admitted to the hearing, the Court of Appeal very briefly provided them with some information of what it had been told by the Procurator-General but this did not contain anything about the provenance of the information obtained by GRIP or the dates on which this information had been provided to GRIP.
15.  On 29 October 1998 the Minister of Justice decided that the applicant’s placement in the EBI should be continued. The wording of that decision was almost identical to that of the decision of 4 November 1997. However, the Minister decided that the applicant should no longer be subjected to the A regime.
16.  On 17 December 1998 the applicant again requested the ‘s‑Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal to order that he be transferred to an ordinary remand institution, arguing that his placement in the EBI had been unlawful. The applicant explicitly relied on Article 8 of the Convention. He submitted that his placement in the EBI had had serious consequences for his possibilities of enjoying private and family life within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention: both privacy and contact with the outside world were severely limited in the EBI. Thus, EBI inmates were only allowed visits from spouses, parents and children without a glass partition between the inmate and the visitor once a month, on which occasions the only physical contact allowed was a handshake at the beginning and end of the visit. Visits from other relatives (including siblings) were only allowed with such a partition in place. In addition, it was only possible to contact relatives by telephone twice a week for ten minutes at a time.
17.  At the hearing which took place on 18 February 1999 before the Court of Appeal in camera, the applicant also submitted that the conditions of his detention in the EBI constituted inhuman treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. In this connection he referred to the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT – see below).
18.  The Court of Appeal in camera rejected the request in a decision dated 16 March 1999. The Court of Appeal held that the reasons set out in the Minister’s decision of 29 October 1998 justified the applicant’s continued placement in the EBI. It further held that the conditions of detention in the EBI did not breach Article 3 since the EBI regime had a basis in law and the treatment of the applicant under this regime could not be regarded as amounting to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. As regards Article 8, finally, the Court of Appeal held that the interferences with the applicant’s rights under that provision were justified as they were in accordance with the law and necessary in the interests of, inter alia, public safety.
19.  When the applicant’s placement in the EBI was once again extended, in a decision of 10 November 2000, he lodged an appeal with the Appeals Board (beroepscommissie) of the Central Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice (Centrale Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing). On 12 February 2001 the Appeals Board dismissed the appeal. Although it held that he could no longer be considered extremely likely to attempt to escape, it did find that the applicant, in the event of an escape, would pose an unacceptable risk to society in view of the nature of the offences of which he stood accused and of the effects on society and public opinion.
20.  In May 2001 the applicant was transferred to a prison with an ordinary regime in Maastricht.
21.  The applicant submitted that during his stay in the EBI he had been confronted with feelings of disempowerment and depression. The applicant’s psychological condition was examined by the Penitentiary Selection Centre (Penitentiair Selectie Centrum – “the PSC”) on a number of occasions, prior to a decision on the prolongation of his placement in the EBI. The following paragraphs contain excerpts from reports of a number of these examinations, drawn up by Mr V., the head of the Psychological Department of the PSC.
22.  Report of 28 October 1999:
“The PSC most recently issued an advisory opinion relating to [the applicant] on 21 April 1999 ... The conclusion reached at that time was the following:
‘Having regard to [the applicant’s] personality and the course of his detention, [the applicant] should be deemed capable of acts of desperation. Within the EBI, such acts will almost certainly (have to) be directed against himself. Under a less strict regime, he could vent his emotions on others. For the time being, extra attention remains a necessity. The question arises whether in the long run, despite all the efforts made, the EBI is capable of offering the care required. If the risk of escape no longer necessitates keeping [the applicant] in the EBI, a transfer to a Special Individual Care Unit [bijzondere individuele begeleidingsafdeling – “BIBA”] might be considered.’
The report of the last six months confirms this picture of [the applicant]. His psychological condition displays ups and downs. There has been a period of depression. A number of factors have a part to play in these psychological low points, such as the fact that [the applicant] misses his family (his detention in the EBI certainly contributes to this), the continuing strain of the appeal on points of law (after all, a great deal is at stake for [the applicant]), his relatively poorly integrated personality (his psychological stability is low), as well as his cognitive capacities, which are not judged to be very high.
[The applicant] has been residing in the EBI for two years now and he obviously has difficulties coping. Added to this, a number of personal characteristics and the insecurity about his fate in detention place a heavy demand on [the applicant’s] limited strength. I would prefer placement in a BIBA but this is unfortunately not feasible given that [the applicant] is detained on remand.
As far as the present prolongation is concerned, I advise that when the decision about continued detention in the EBI is made, the aforementioned aspects will weigh relatively heavily in relation to current information about a possible risk of his escaping.”
23.  Report of 13 April 2000:
“It appears from reports of the course of [the applicant’s] detention that prior to his placement in the EBI he was seen as a dominant man familiar with the daily routine in detention. There were regular signs that he exerted much (negative) influence, involving, inter alia, threats. These signs resulted in frequent transfers. Ever since he has been staying in the EBI, a more unstable, downcast side of [the applicant] has become much more apparent.
[The applicant] is described by the prison’s medical and health care team as a vulnerable man tending to depression, who takes medication for these complaints. A number of reasons may explain the contrast between [the applicant’s] behaviour in detention prior to his placement in the EBI and his current behaviour. In the first place there is of course the threat of being sentenced to imprisonment (for life). The fact that his appeal on points of law was upheld caused a strong resurgence of hope, but after he had again been sentenced to life imprisonment, [the applicant] was extremely upset. According to the members of the medical and health care team, he is beginning to recover. In the second place, there is the EBI regime itself which [the applicant] has difficulties coping with. [The applicant] used to be a person who was not constrained by any moral code of behaviour and who did not consider the rights of others. In the EBI, there are clearly defined limits and dependence. [The applicant] finds this loss of control over his own life difficult to accept and it looks as if this is a contributing factor to the development and continuation of the complaints linked to depression. Another relevant factor is contact with his family; personnel in the EBI have the impression that this is deteriorating and that increasingly a distance is beginning to develop.
The report of the last six months confirms this picture of [the applicant]. His psychological condition displays highs and lows. There has been a period of complaints linked to depression. These lows are often mainly reactive in nature (bad news, problems with other detainees, the loss of a ‘mate’ within the unit, etc.). There is still the continuing strain relating to the outcome of the criminal proceedings (after all, a great deal is at stake for [the applicant]), and this should be seen against the background of the relatively poorly integrated personality of [the applicant] (his psychological stability is low) and his cognitive capacities, not judged to be very high. In view of all his problems, regular attention is paid to [the applicant] by the medical and health care team. There is regular contact with the psychiatrist, the psychologist and social workers. Albeit somewhat intermittently, [the applicant] is prepared to take medication, which does have a positive effect on his mood.
The fact remains that [the applicant] is having a hard time and that he has difficulties coping with the constraints of the EBI. If information about the risk of his escaping and the associated unacceptability of the risk to society is deemed such that it is no longer strictly necessary to detain [the applicant] in the EBI, there should be an alternative available in a secure facility which offers the possibility of creating a certain space in relation to the setting of limits. A BIBA would be suitable but, given that [the applicant] is detained on remand, placement there is not yet possible. I am nevertheless of the opinion that the unavailability of the most ideal detention facility where [the applicant] should be placed next should not be a decisive factor in the decision-making process on whether or not to prolong his placement in the EBI.”
24.  Report of 18 April 2001:
“The most serious problems which [the applicant] says he is experiencing in the EBI are the conditions under which visits take place and the fact that he is not seeing some of his children. [The applicant] becomes visibly emotional when talking about this. He complains of eating a lot, listlessness, being worried and sleeplessness. As confirmed by earlier reports, [the applicant] gives the impression of a vulnerable man who yearns for contact and tends towards gloominess, and who has difficulties coping with his detention. There is no appearance of serious psychopathology such as psychosis, severe depression or severe anxiety. Only mild to moderate depressive symptoms and an unstable affect are visible.
It appears from the reports drawn up by the staff at the secure unit over the past six months that [the applicant] has functioned well. He enjoys contact with certain co‑detainees. Judged by his own standards, he has participated to a reasonable degree in the programme on offer. He is, however, perceived as someone who complains a lot and who likes to lodge complaints about all manner of things. The conclusion is drawn that in the period under review [the applicant] appears to have found his feet. 
The medical and health care team reports that [the applicant] has regular contact with the social worker.
Having regard to all of the above, [the applicant] has thus functioned well in the past six months. The imposition of a fifteen-year prison sentence and a TBS order, which, as opposed to life imprisonment, offer a certain perspective, has certainly contributed to the improved level of functioning. ...
Whether or not his placement in the EBI should be extended is determined in the first place by the level of risk of [the applicant] escaping. ... Although [the applicant] has difficulties coping with his placement in the EBI, the findings are not of such a nature as to constitute strong contraindications militating against a prolongation of his placement.”
25.  At the request of the investigating judge in the criminal proceedings against the applicant, a report was drawn up concerning the applicant’s mental faculties by a psychologist and a psychiatrist on 21 November 2000, following a period during which the applicant was held in a psychiatric observation clinic. The following excerpt has been taken from the chapter of the report describing the applicant’s meetings with the psychiatrist.
“It is remarkable that soon after his admission to the psychiatric observation clinic, [the applicant’s] appearance seems a lot more presentable: with his hair cut short, clean-shaven and wearing fresh clothes, he gives an altogether different impression from that at the first meeting. [The applicant] says the regime in the EBI did not encourage him to look after himself properly: sometimes days would go by without him speaking to anybody, he found the continuous strip-searching humiliating, and as a result he preferred not to go to the hairdresser’s or to get showered. [The applicant] describes his treatment in the psychiatric observation clinic as ‘heaven’ compared to his treatment in the EBI, and he says that as a result he feels a lot better in the psychiatric observation clinic.”